2018-02-16: July is the Darkest Month
- Log: July is the Darkest Month
- Cast: Seraph Ragnell, Neriah Parringer, Seraph Nimue, Rosaline Calice, Janus Cascade
- Where: Lost July
- Date: February 16, 2018
- Summary: A group of Seraphs, Hellions, Valmarspawn and just plain jerks hit up Lost July in search of Elw ruins. Does Janus Cascade get to call dibs?
==============================<* Gunsmoke Desert *>=============================== The Gunsmoke Desert occupies the northwestern portion of Ignas. This desert is different from Aveh's. Instead of rolling dunes of sand, it has dry and cracked ground, and the mountains that rim it also intrude into the interior, forming stunning rock formations that can look as beautiful as they look impossible. The settlements here are hard-pressed to survive, consisting of countless small towns. The lucky few are connected by railways to the Seed Cities scattered about the Gunsmoke. Many are lost to the sands, which cover them and a tremendous concentration of ruins from Filgaia's past. This makes these badlands the heart of Drifter activity in Ignas. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_CxmE0AkA
DG: A party led by Seraph Ragnell is now entering Lost July. DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
================================<* Lost July *>=================================
==================<* CHALLENGE - The Glass Crater - Bandits *>==================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The entrance to the ruins of Lost July is through the crater where the
greatest devastation here. The ground here has been blasted by some force so
mighty that it rendered the crater into glass. The path onward requires
crossing it, which is a treacherous thought.
It may not seem so at first. A rope descends downward, with pitons hammered
into the glass -- and the rock beneath. Someone else came here first. Those
someones are down on the base of the crater, which is when they spot you. A
loud whistle breaks the air -- then shots from gunsmoke ARMs, as a crew of
bandits begin firing upon you. And one of them, it seems, is loading a
rocket launcher to fire on you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ever since she was a wee Seraph bab, Ragnell has always been insatiably curious. When she heard rumors about a pathway to an Elw ruin in a city that was supposedly razed to the ground fifty years ago by the infamous Humanoid Typhoon, well. That pretty much SCREAMED, 'Come explore me!' to the Lightning Seraph. After contacted Nimue and Neriah to see if they were interested in joining her, Ragnell's brought the group through the Gunsmoke Desert into the ruins of Lost July... or at least, up to its entrance.
"Althena almighty," she swears, peering down at the glass crater, impressed despite herself. The Humanoid Typhoon is, according to the posters, a legendary gunman and outlaw. "How d'you even DO somethin' like this? Did a human being really pull this off?" From her tone, it sounds like she thinks the answer is 'no.' "Though if you could break the glass up, I bet you could sell it for a pretty gella--hm. Speakin' o' breakin' up the glass..."
Ragnell hunkers down next to the crater, eyes fixed on the piston she'd spotted hammered into the glass. She follows it down to the rope tied onto it, and down towards the bottom of the crater... where several Driftersbanditsne'er-do-wells, Ragnell doesn't know, she can't tell how they classify themselves at just a glance, are just finishing up their climb down. Apparently they didn't set that rope up as an act of courtesy towards their fellow Drifter, so odds are leaning towards maybe bandit, because once they spot those above--maybe just Neriah, maybe all three of them, maybe some others that Ragnell didn't invite?!--they open fire with guns, guns, more guns, and even a freaking rocket launcher.
"They're gonna get themselves killed if they keep that up," Ragnell observes, leaping back from the lip of the crater. "The hell d'they think's gonna happen if that rocket hits the side o' the crater? More importantly, if they blow up this damn wall, how're *we* supposed to climb down? Oh well--"
That's a magic glyph materializing at Ragnell's feet, Seraphic arte charging as she concentrates. As the rocket veers dangerously close, a lance made out of lightning crackles into existence. "Pierce through! Thunder Spear!" she calls, and the arte shoots forward, aimed to shear that rocket in half before it gets too close to the crater wall.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
It's slightly alarming how many of Neriah's friends are unnatural horrors, isn't it? Case in point: Upon hearing about Lost July, the first person she invited along with her was Rosaline Calice, a Hellion.
A Hellion, and her sparring partner.
"Yeah... that t must've been something pretty impressive, to do this kind of damage," Neriah murmurs with a glance towards Ragnell as she parts her chameleon cloak and pushes back her hood. For those who've seen her before, one might notice she's begun to let her hair grow out; it reaches her shoulders now and has a bit of a glossy wave to it. She gives her head a quick shake as if unused to the style, flicking the dark locks back, then easing forward, towards that crater rim.
"I could probably do it," she says in a more subdued tone. "If I let the darkness do what it wants."
The piton is noticed; she wets her lips and starts forward, only to blink at the sight of the bandits below.
They probably don't have the resonance to see much; bullets therefore end up ghosting primarily towards Neriah. The dark-haired girl doesn't so much as move. She breathes in and holds out her right hand, and her magic begins to build with a familiar hideous aura before pushing out around her.
The bullets slam into the eldritch sphere Neriah summons up around her - a familiar trick, but one she pulls off here with only a wince and hiss of breath before the sphere separates her from the nose around her. She can see through the shifting patterns as Ragnell makes her move. More bullets hit the shield and cause ripples, but she doesn't feel them.
The Seraph's lightning strikes - and Neriah draws her breath in, beginning to inhale the eldritch sphere. It flows back into her, through her nose and mouth, through her right hand, through her left palm, through her chest. Dark lightning arcs around her as she stores the accumulated punishment collected by the shield, her body trembling a bit as the energy begins to mount.
"Good thing I don't have moral hangups about killing people who want to take a rocket launcher to my face, huh," she huffs. Her voice is pinched off and strained, as if she were struggling to hold something in.
Neriah lets it out. She sweeps her arm across her body in a great arc and lets the stored energy roar out of her in a screaming, vibrating wave. The dark power pours down into the crater at insane velocity, roaring and vibrating with what must be a cacophonous scream if it weren't reduced to a horrible bass by the fact that it's just below the range of human hearing. It's bound to rip quite a few of those bandits apart nevertheless, of course.
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
And where there's Ragnell, there's often...
... Nimue! She's not nearly as interested in exploring the Elw ruins as Ragnell herself is, honestly; she's just here to have a good time, for the most part. "Wow, I don't know if I've seen this much destructive force ever! ... Wait, no, maybe once? ... Maybe? Ugh. It's hell to get old!!" She lets out a theatrical sigh, and starts forward --
-- and nearly gets winged by a bullet not meant for her. There are... ups and downs to being a seraph, one supposes.
Nimue acts with no grand urgency; she reaches into her pack and fishes around in it for a little while, eventually pulling out a flash grenade -- the sort of thing that won't do a lot of damage on its own, but will sure discourage the folks down there from acting for a little while. She flops down on the ground in a leisurely posture (which conveniently also renders her fairly unshootable for the moment), and lazily tosses it into the crater.
DG: Seraph Nimue has used her Tool Stolen Gadgets toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Nobody tell Rosaline, but she may have just walked into THE JERK STORE. Is she a jerk now? Don't tell her that either.
Some relatively short but unclear amount of time ago, she and Neriah agreed to help one another train with their powers. For Neriah, it's a matter of controlling them rather than letting them control her. For Rosaline, it's... well, there's a bit of that, but truth be told, she's curious to see what she can even DO before she really worries about that. And what better setting to cut loose in than an adventure?
Everyone here is a relative stranger, Neriah and Ragnell being the only people present Rosaline has even met. She's always been nervous about meeting new people, and that hasn't changed now that she's a horrible abomination, but here her fear has manifested mainly as what looks like bored silence.
"Wow..." she says as she sees the glass below, and Ragnell asks a good question. What IS that Humanoid Typhoon anyway?
But soon action is afoot. Rosaline probably didn't get spotted-- She has an uncanny knack for going unnoticed despite being partially on fire... not that they likely can see that part. To normal people, she merely looks like a homeless catwoman. But she still peers over the edge, laying as low as she can (which is pretty darn low) for cover as she considers trying... something. She extends her hands forward, and...
Red, faintly glowing strings thread out from her claws, snaking through the air. She whips her two tails about, and their respective tips project two more threads. They fly through the air, dimming to the point of being almost invisible, until they reach one of the fallen bandits-- possibly one that Neriah didn't outright shred and attach themselves.
The bandit lurches back on their feet, as if pulled up by, well, puppet strings. They raise their gunsmoke ARM and begin blasting at their own allies, no doubt causing some amount of confusion and alarm among their ranks.
Rosaline looks down as this occurs, pupils narrow and intent. Her hands and tails are swaying and pulling, but the rest of her remains perfectly still.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Corpse Strings toward her party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
And amid the fighting, a man-shaped blur suddenly bullets down from above. It strikes the wall and seems to inert that downward momentum somehow before reorienting sideways to slam into the bandits!
"DANGIT ROMERO SHE AIN'T THAT CUTE!" hollers a deep voice from above, followed shortly by a pair of wild shots from a heavy handgun, blasting down into the mass, aiming mostly for the other ARM-wielders.
And sliding rapidly down the rope, gloved hand and anime physics combining to prevent his hand from bursting into flames from rope burn, the rope wrapped around one leg of his chaps for stability, comes a man in a red jacket, but like, a different one than the Humanoid Typhoon, probably. "Well would ya look at that, boys!" he declares, casually raising his rifle, swinging the weapon up to firing position and putting a shot in someone's brain before it's even finished settling into sight-line. "We got us a group o' mates!"
"You can't call it mating just because a catgirl's involved, boss," Romero mutters.
"I don't see that one!!" Dario calls, from like fifty fet up and bumblingly descending.
DG: Janus Cascade has used his Tool Dario & Romero Do Something Useful toward his party's challenge, The Glass Crater - Bandits.
================================<* Lost July *>=================================
==================<* CHALLENGE - The Glass Crater - Bandits *>==================
|Type: Entry |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 2 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
The entrance to the ruins of Lost July is through the crater where the
greatest devastation here. The ground here has been blasted by some force so
mighty that it rendered the crater into glass. The path onward requires
crossing it, which is a treacherous thought.
It may not seem so at first. A rope descends downward, with pitons hammered
into the glass -- and the rock beneath. Someone else came here first. Those
someones are down on the base of the crater, which is when they spot you. A
loud whistle breaks the air -- then shots from gunsmoke ARMs, as a crew of
bandits begin firing upon you. And one of them, it seems, is loading a
rocket launcher to fire on you.
=Dungeon Conditions: Fright, Injure===========================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 1 *>============================ ====================< Results - The Glass Crater - Bandits >==================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Cascade 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Dario & Romero Do Something Useful 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Corpse Strings 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 0 --(5)--> 5 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Nimue 0 --(15)--> 15 Fail Stolen Gadgets 2 Combat Effects: Embolden -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Ragnell 0 --(20)--> 20 Pass Conditions: Fright(2)|Injure(2) Effects: Embolden(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Mmm," Ragnell murmurs as Nimue comments on destruction and getting old. If she's ever seen anything on this level, she keeps it to herself. Of course, that might be, you know, all the bullets and such zipping in towards them. Instead, she says to Neriah, "Wouldn't mind seein' just how far you could take those powers o' yours--but maybe not just this second." She laughs darkly at the comment on moral hang-ups. "Don't see nothin' wrong 'bout takin' out someone tryin' ta kill ya, neither."
Neriah does a fine job of covering them all from the incoming bullets while Nimue hurls down a flash grenade to distract them. This allows for a gap in the gunfire that gives Neriah time to suck in her dark forces, then expel them all at once, violently, and where the bandits are concerned, messily. Ragnell, meanwhile, blows up that rocket but good. It explodes in midair like a firework, and with about as much color. Rosaline uses strange threads to pick up some of the survivors, then uses him to open fire on the others. The last of the bandits might well surrender at this point, except then Janus 'n' Pals drop in and murder them but good. Two Seraphim, one Hellion, some kind of hellspawn... and then there's Janus. It says a lot about Janus that he and his buddies fit right in with this motley crew.
Ragnell peers down at the corpses below; then she kneels down and grabs the climbing equipment, then quirks an eyebrow at the others. "Our rope now," she says, smirking, before she begins to climb down.
She doesn't address Janus. She's pretty sure he and his friends can't see her, and as long as they're useful, she doesn't actually care if they stick around. That's Neriah and Rosa's problem.
DG: Neriah Parringer has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - The Wired *>============================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
You may have encountered -- or anticipated, at least -- enough hostile
Drifters to be on guard when you come across another team. As you slow to a
stop here, though, you spot something awry. A lone man stands in the alley,
looking down at a corpse that lay at his feet. His coat is splattered in
blood -- and his voice is wracked with terrible sobs.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh God, I'm so sorry, I'm--"
And then he hears you. He turns, in a jerking motion, and his jaw opens too
wide as he lets out a primal scream. "Get--get AWAY FROM ME!" It isn't a
cry; it is a plea. He raises a pistol, firing repeatedly in your direction.
Something glints in the air -- but before you get a good look, he rushes you
with a viciousness that cannot be understated.
In the shadows, a man smiles... and bites down into another hot dog.
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Overwhelm=======================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Neriah, for her part, is hanging close to Rosaline. The Beastwoman's a friend now, after all. As she draws her magic back into her, Neriah takes a slow, steadying breath. Her pupils have shrunken a little - but they're beginning to return to their normal size already. She looks on with arched brows as Rosaline reaches out to reanimate one of the bodies.
"That was pretty cool," she compliments the fallen Etone. There's a flicker of surprise there - but not shock.
Janus she doesn't immediately recognize; maybe she should. She covers by just nodding easily, curling her fingers in a little wave. "We also accept 'buds," she comments.
By the time they descend into the crater below, there's plenty of gore to go around. Those her wave swept over are mostly dismembered, some of them charred and mutilated until they're barely recognizable as more than twisted abominations of man-meat. Neriah glances at them with a sad dip of her head, but proceeds nevertheless. These people deserved to die, after all. Soon enough, they're moving past the corpses and into an area where a few buildings still stand.
"Wait," Neriah says as she looks down at what's in front of them - a body, quite intact. "I don't think this is one of ours."
From the alley not far away, there's a low sniff, then a choking sound.
Neriah raises her eyebrows and turns towards the shadows. Her shoulders tense a little as she listens, staring at the figure there. A man in a blood-spattered coat, staring at that corpse from the shadows. "Oh God," he manages, voice halfway between a sob and disbelieving laughter. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... aha... heh...."
The man's eyes are wild as he looks up and realizes others are there. Those eyes, reddened with horror, nearly bulge out of his head.
"GET AWAY," he shrieks as he begins firing that pistol wildly. Neriah blinks and sidesteps before the man comes bearing down on her, screaming and firing that pistol without actually hitting her.
Without thinking, she snaps her right hand out and attempts to grab the man by the throat. Her palm aches; she becomes cognizant of it even as she's in the act of bodily lifting the man off his feet and throwing him away. Of course, he'll just rush the others; he'll hit the wall hard, shrieking and attacking with an almost animal viciousness.
I should feel sad for this man, Neriah reflects beneath the unseen gaze of a man lurking deeper in the alley. But I don't. I wonder when that happened...?
DG: Neriah Parringer has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Wired.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline's ears turn, radar dish-like, as Janus and his goons make their entrance. She hasn't had the pleasure to run into the infamous Cascade Gang, and so she isn't sure how to react at the appearance of the trio... the leader of whom PROBABLY isn't Vash the Stampede.
Neriah compliments her strange necromantic power, as the red strings retract into her. "Thank you," Rosaline says, with a nervous laugh. "Likewise."
No one seems to object to the Janus crew, and so Rosaline only raises a hand with a mildly shy "Hello." It looks like a big furry monster claw to almost everyone here. She lets Neriah handle the talking, or lack thereof, on this one.
She moves past the corpses without much comment. She has no tears left to shed for heavy ARM-toting killers. The man in the alleyway, however, elicits something resembling more of an emotional response.
"Sir...?"
The man charges and fire. Rosaline leaps out of the way almost casually, then extends a hand towards the fresh corpse, projecting more of her red strings. When you have a hammer...
And so, the corpse gets back on its feet and charges right towards the berserked man, trying to restrain and hopefully distract him so the others can do something more decisive.
Rosaline, it should be said, is COMPLETELY missing the irony in what she's doing right now.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Corpse Strings toward her party's challenge, The Wired.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Nimue pries herself up off the ground again, scootching after Ragnell. "... We hang out with some real weirdos, huh," she notes, with a couple of furtive gestures toward their Assembled Pals and Inexplicable Team Janus. There's a certain amount of guardedness that enters her posture when she sees Rosaline going to town with her corpse strings... but it only lasts a few moments, as she moves forward.
... She is not rightly sure if this guy can see her at all; she scootches back a bit, but without full-on urgency. Her gaze briefly turns to that glint in the air, but even if she sees it for that tiniest of moments, she can't... really do anything about it.
Nimue reaches into her satchel again, this time withdrawing a slightly differently-shaped grenade. She tosses it into the air, then pulls forth her sling-staff, catches it, and tosses it toward the advancing man. Needless to say, it does what grenades... do.
With uncharacteristic seriousness, she notes to Ragnell, "... Something feels really off here."
DG: Seraph Nimue has used her Tool Stolen Gadgets toward her party's challenge, The Wired.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Buds, huh," Ragnell says with dry humor once everyone's all down into the crater. She meanders over towards Nimue, stepping through the piles of blood and gore, and hip-bumps her, grinning. She pretends, as any good friend would, not to notice Nimue's guardedness. "Only the weirdest for *us*, Nim."
Regardless, the group moves on. The buzzards will eat well tonight, no doubt--and so the ecosystem of the desert and this dying planet move on. You do what you have to in order to survive. And it looks like they're far from the only explorers about either, in this destroyed city with a bare few buildings still managing to stand...
Ragnell stops when she sees the man crying over a dead body. He looks up at them with fear, terror, and screams at them to get away from him. One might reasonably assume that he's assumed they're here to do to him what he just did to that body there and responding accordingly, but--something's wrong. Something that sets her teeth on edge. It's make even clearer when Rosaline uses her own threads to bring up the corpse and control it into battle against the strange man. There's a similarity in their movements, in the slight jerkiness, in the way they move smoother and faster and more viciously than they ought to. Ragnell looks up and around, but she can't spot anything. She thought she might've seen a flash of something, but... is it just her imagination? Or is she just making assumptions because of Rosaline's dubious ability?
Regardless, as Neriah throws the man about, and he gets to his feet again and again to rush those of the group that are visible with the ferocity of a hungry lion, Ragnell reaches into her poncho and pulls out a revolver's loading dish. She flicks open her left pistol and loads it with her right, then aims carefully at the screaming man.
Then she opens fire. Not with her usual lightning bullets, which shock and hurt but ultimately don't have the piercing power to kill, at least not right away; these are *actual* bullets. The kind people talk about when they tell you to 'eat lead.'
"You noticed too, huh?" she murmurs back to Nimue, eyes narrowed, as the two of them fight. "Once this guy's down, we might wanna move on real quick. Just in case."
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Wired.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Some counting may indicate that Janus, at least, has some sense of the party's true measure; with Rosaline having passive Presence Concealments and Ragnell and Nimue being theoretically invisible, they should only be able to see Neriah....right...?
Regardless, the boys gather up as they get to the first landing, apparently briefly discussing what to do. Romero gingerly waves back at Rosaline because he is a ninja wizard and has never known a woman's attention before.
Whatever they're talking about he interrupts it with "Bud?" as Janus turns incredulously. "I wouldn't call my worst enemy 'bud!' What kind of guy do ya take me for!?"
Romero asides, "Boss has opinions he considers very important," before Janus cuffs him and marches right on, never questioning that one of the ropes appears to have tied itself...?
Anyway, onward.
Janus' head tips slowly as the shrieking, agonized man dares to attack - he gets summarily flattened by Neriah. Janus cuts his eyes to the duo behind him and tips his chin. Off they go - Dario firing wildly at the staggering, screaming man while Romero cuts into him with ninja needles. Janus...doesn't do anything.
He's a very helpful guy, Janus Cascade is. Actually, he's mostly keeping an eye on what goes on in the alley, his eyes briefly following Rosaline's eerie....power. "....ghost shit," he mutters, with a steep frown.
DG: Janus Cascade has used his Tool Dario & Romero Do Something Useful toward his party's challenge, The Wired.
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
===========================<* CHALLENGE - The Wired *>============================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Combat |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
You may have encountered -- or anticipated, at least -- enough hostile
Drifters to be on guard when you come across another team. As you slow to a
stop here, though, you spot something awry. A lone man stands in the alley,
looking down at a corpse that lay at his feet. His coat is splattered in
blood -- and his voice is wracked with terrible sobs.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh God, I'm so sorry, I'm--"
And then he hears you. He turns, in a jerking motion, and his jaw opens too
wide as he lets out a primal scream. "Get--get AWAY FROM ME!" It isn't a
cry; it is a plea. He raises a pistol, firing repeatedly in your direction.
Something glints in the air -- but before you get a good look, he rushes you
with a viciousness that cannot be understated.
In the shadows, a man smiles... and bites down into another hot dog.
=Dungeon Conditions: Madness, Overwhelm=======================================
============================<* Lost July - Round 2 *>============================= =============================< Results - The Wired >============================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Cascade 5 --(20)--> 25 Fail Dario & Romero Do Something Useful 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Corpse Strings 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 5 --(10)--> 15 Pass Fight 0 Combat Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Nimue 15 --(10)--> 25 Pass Stolen Gadgets 2 Combat Effects: Embolden ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Ragnell 20 --(20)--> 40 Pass Conditions: Fright(1)|Injure(1)|Madness|Overwhelm Effects: Embolden(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
The man may be distraught, but he's coming at the little band of mortal sinners with a savagery that belies the fact that he's a screaming man with a Saturday night special. It's not a matter of out-powering him; any one individual among the group here could do that with ease.
It's that he just doesn't seem to go down.
Not even when Nimue throws a grenade at him. The explosive goes off and hurls the man violently into the wall. Blood runs down his chin and from countless wounds as he lurches forward again, screaming at the top of his lungs. "NO, NO, NO, GO AWAY, GET AWAY," he shrieks as he hurls himself back at the group.
Dario and Romero attempt to do something useful; Ragnell does much the same. Bullets and needles punch into the man; he twitches violently, writhing and bleeding. Neriah takes her own pistol out and fires a few bullets of her own into him, cheeks growing pale. The man spasms and throws himself at Janus anyway. "IT'S WRONG," he screams. "WRONG WRONG WRONG LEAVE ME ALONE!!"
Only when Rosaline reanimates the dead (the actual dead, not what Neriah likes to call Ragnell) is there a break. The frenzied man wrestles with the reanimated corpse, sobbing and screaming and firing bullets into the air until his gun runs out.
Slowly, Neriah inches away from the screaming, thrashing man - and the sense of eyes on her from the alley.
From the darkness, there is the faint sound of a dry chuckle.
The hairs on the back of Neriah's neck stand up, and she inches a little closer to Ragnell. "This is giving me the willies," she mutters. "Let's hurry."
DG: Rosaline Calice has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>=================================
================<* CHALLENGE - Interpreting a Train Schedule *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A light rail was the primary means of getting around July, until the
incident occurred. However, light rail stations still dot the parts of the
city that stand, and offer maps of the city. Abstracted maps, to be sure,
and ones that don't factor in the massive crater that takes up a full half
of it. But, maps nonetheless.
Some interpretation may be necessary. There are six major lines:
east-to-west has the Red, Yellow, and Blue lines. North-to-south has the
Green, Gold, and Silver lines. However, the Silver Line becomes the Purple
Line for part of its route every other weekday. Additionally, between 4:00
p.m. and 8:00 p.m, there are also the Orange, Magenta, and Periwinkle lines.
On weekends, one can take the Red Line's alternate route, represented by a
dotted line. Except, of course, on Sundays, when it is the Blue Line's
alternate route.
Shouldn't be too hard. Right?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
People seem to be unsettled by Rosaline's strange power. She notices but doesn't seem to mind. Honestly, it's about as expected. When the flailing man is finally subdued, the beastwoman Hellion returns her attention to her surroundings, where more or less everyone is agreeing that they shouldn't stick around for long.
She nods in agreement and takes off-- Despite some people having a headstart, she catches up quickly, and runs past a few, trailing (pink) flame for those who can see it. Cats are fast!
The group successfully manages to elude... whatever (or whoever?) was apparently toying with them just now. Rosaline, using her hands to run as she sometimes does, zooms past a large, mostly intact billboard displaying...
"A map!" Rosaline skids to a halt, her claws emitting a horrible screeching sound as she does. She walks back to look at the map, gesturing towards it for the others' benefit. She actually looks pleased for the first time today.
"Praise be," she says, out of reflex, before grimacing and... not correcting herself because she's not sure HOW one would go about that. "This should be helpful for charting out our path. Maps of lost cities like these tend to be rare." And possibly worth a tiny fortune selling to other Drifters.
"So if the rumors are right, we want to be around... here," she says, poking a four-inch (ghost) claw into a corner of the map and tearing a small hole open. She frowns, removing it, then pointing more vaguely. "And we're... here, I think? Along the orange line? Which station is this?"
She looks at the half-collapsed building they're standing in front of. Whatever would normally announce which one they're at is long gone now.
"Or, hold on... is this the Gold or Platinum line? They both cross with Irrigo and Octarine, don't they? Hold on, is it even oriented towards the North at all??"
She's going to need a little help sorting this one out.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Interpreting a Train Schedule.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Of course Rosaline's power is unsettling to Neriah - but not enough to slow her down or warrant more than a curious look. Neriah sees horrors in her dreams where the dead walk.
She's been the dead in her dreams on more than a few occasions.
"Rosaline, wait," Neriah calls after her, quickly darting to follow the Hellionized ex-Etone - and emerging with a blink into the shadow of a map of countless conflicting tracks. The dark-haired girl blushes and looks up to the building beyond, then frowns as she edges to one side, trying to see beyond it.
Fishing out a lens from her pocket, Neriah sets it to its lowest magnification and lifts it to her eye, squinting through it to get a better look at the map. Then she lowers the lens to peer at the street beyond. She raises the lens again.
"...No, I think Silver crosses with 47th," she says. "And then Red gets cut off by one of those big impact craters, so Red's out...."
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Excavator's Lens toward her party's challenge, Interpreting a Train Schedule.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Janus is entirely trusting his boys to handle the man so he gets knifed for his troubles. "Ah! Damn it, Dario!" he yells, assigning blame for his own failings like a good manager. He is still bandaging up the cut as the crew comes upon the map. His head tips, just slightly, eyes narrowing when Rosaline's hand makes a cut in the map...
"Boss," Romero mutters, "Don't just stare at a lady's paws! It's inelegant 'n' shit."
"Oh 'n' you're just the picture of a gentleman," Janus chuckles, reaching for something in his jacket.
"Got a map or somethin'?" Dario mutters, as Janus produces a gold pocketwatch that he flips open silently. "Nah," Janus says, without further explanation.
The three start muttering among themselves. This is very helpful, because it means Dario and Romero aren't trying to help with the map.
DG: Janus Cascade has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Interpreting a Train Schedule.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Surprisingly, this is actually right up Nimue's alley! Finding a map is a downright relief for Nimue -- finally, the kind of thing she actually knows how to do! She gives Ragnell a quick nod, and a brief, "... Yeah. I don't like this." She heads up to the map, taking a deep breath, and...
"... Honestly, why don't we just ignore the lines themselves? They're all dumb anyway," Nimue offers, banging on the map a couple times for good measure. "Like, just look at the stops, look at the distances. Ignore everything else. The lines don't mean anything anymore anyway."
That... seems to be all the thinking about this Nimue is willing -- or able -- to do, though. The longer she actually looks at the map and tries to match it to their surroundings, the more unquiet she seems; her fingers come up to the bridge of her nose and pinch for a moment.
"Yeah, done," she says. "Hope that advice helped, losers!"
DG: Seraph Nimue has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Interpreting a Train Schedule.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
A map, huh. A train map, as far as Ragnell can tell. She peers at the board. It seems not too difficult at first, but the further she reads, the more ridiculously overcomplicated it gets. Did people really use these regularly...? Maybe she doesn't get it because she comes from a world where trains straight-up don't exist.
So as Rosaline and Neriah start knocking their heads together to figure this out, Team Janus helps by... not helping, Ragnell pulls out a tarnished silver harmonica and begins to play a soothing melody that might help people think.
Or, well, they could listen to Nimue, who cuts to the heart of the matter by declaring it all irrelevant bullshit, which, she has a point, considering the trains aren't running anymore anyway. They just need to pick where they want to go and start heading that way. It's all ruins anyhow.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, Interpreting a Train Schedule.
================================<* Lost July *>=================================
================<* CHALLENGE - Interpreting a Train Schedule *>=================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
A light rail was the primary means of getting around July, until the
incident occurred. However, light rail stations still dot the parts of the
city that stand, and offer maps of the city. Abstracted maps, to be sure,
and ones that don't factor in the massive crater that takes up a full half
of it. But, maps nonetheless.
Some interpretation may be necessary. There are six major lines:
east-to-west has the Red, Yellow, and Blue lines. North-to-south has the
Green, Gold, and Silver lines. However, the Silver Line becomes the Purple
Line for part of its route every other weekday. Additionally, between 4:00
p.m. and 8:00 p.m, there are also the Orange, Magenta, and Periwinkle lines.
On weekends, one can take the Red Line's alternate route, represented by a
dotted line. Except, of course, on Sundays, when it is the Blue Line's
alternate route.
Shouldn't be too hard. Right?
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 3 *>============================ ==================< Results - Interpreting a Train Schedule >=================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Cascade 25 --(20)--> 45 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 15 --(20)--> 35 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 35 --(20)--> 55 Fail Tarnished Harmonica 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 15 --(15)--> 30 Pass Excavator's Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Nimue 25 --(20)--> 45 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Ragnell 40 --(10)--> 50 Fail Conditions: Madness|Overwhelm|Reckless(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline's paws are STARED AT, which is a feeling that takes her back. She did away with her gloves when she became a Hellion, but she started wearing them for a reason. She ignores Janus, for now, though her tails sway with irritation.
"That's easier said than done!" she snaps at Nimue, baring her teeth for a second, but it's sensible advice. Neriah's input is met with a bit more patience. "Oh, I see..." She traces a path as best as she can, holding her finger far enough away not to scratch it up further...
...until she does, inadventently leaving a large gash. "UGH!"
Far too much time is wasted trying to make heads or tails of the map. It's starting to seem as if it might just have been for a different city entirely, put there as a prank or clerical mistake.
"NEVER MIND!" Rosaline finally screams out at the top of her lungs, extending a hand towards the billboard and setting it ablaze entirely. "Change of plans, we're doing this on instinct now!" she spits out.
"Follow me, losers!" she declares, storming off in the direction opposite the one they came from. It seems Nimue is a bad influence on her.
DG: Janus Cascade has drawn a new Challenge.
===============================<* Lost July *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Controlled Demolition *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Crossing Lost July means, at times, you have to go up inside a building. You find such a case here: a large, seemingly solid building, which has a stairway inside of it that spirals up four floors. A door at the top leads back out to the roof level of a neighboring building. As you begin climbing up the stairs, though, the building shakes -- and pieces begin collapsing, including the stairs behind you! The only way out of the tower is to break through -- and quickly, before the entire thing breaks into pieces around you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Suffer=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
"I'm not a loser," Romero mutters sadly.
Dario guffaws. Janus rolls his eyes and snaps his pocketwatch closed. "I'm sure you'll win at something someday, Romero," he says, lazily, and proceeds to follow Rosaline because hey, seems good enough.
They eventually find their way into a decaying building, swaying, creaking... "This place ain't gonna hold much longer. Let's hurr--"
RUMBLE.
"....nuts," Janus mutters, turning back just to see a chunk of tower sheering clear through half structure behind them. It holds for now, like some late-game torturous Jenga moment, but Janus doesn't trust it. "Dario!" Janus yells down. "Smash that door down!"
"heh!" Dario chuckles, and there's one, a loud ZZZZIP as his fly comes closed, because a man can't exert properly if his pants don't fit right; and two, he unscrews the cap on his flask and starts chugging a few mouthfulls of liquid courage.
Then he bullets forward at full speed to slam into the door at the top of the stairs. "Shhhit," Janus mutters, looking back down with something like actual concern as the building rumbles again. "Hope you ladies have something that's good on barred doors!"
DG: Janus Cascade has used his Tool Dario's Flask toward his party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Hey," Neriah huffs as Rosaline scampers off, "I was pretty close to figuring this thing out...."
Of course, it's futile to argue with someone who is a catgirl from hell, even when Neriah herself is a literal... something... from hell. Neriah just boosts herself after Rosaline and the others, and on into the building. As she begins to ascend --
RUMBLE.
"Fuck," Neriah says simply.
The huge chunk of tower collapses behind them. With a clenching of teeth, Neriah whips her shovel out from over her shoulder and darts forward --
She pauses to look at Dario for a second. "Timing there, guy," she says drily, before lunging towards the door at the top of the stairs and beginning to attack it with her shovel. Clenching her teeth, she attempts to drive the shovel blade through the door itself before going after the seams between the door and the wall, essentially trying to pry the damn thing out of its frame or off its hinges.
"Come on, come on," she growls. "Damn thing...."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
'I'm not a loser,' Romero mutters.
"That's what losers say," Ragnell comments, "ya loser."
Looks like their kitty friend has snapped, though. Well, that's a Hellion for you. Ragnell puts her harmonica away and follows her. It takes a long-ass time, but they make their way into an old building that's seen far better days, all of them in the past, since it sure as hell doesn't have many days in front of it. They climb up the stairs...
And the building starts to shake. Not a little shake, either; this is a "you're about to be crushed under tons of rubble" shake. Ragnell stills, holding her arms out for balance and shooting a look Nimue's way; then she looks over at Neriah and Rosaline.
"Well, I'm glad we're takin' this seriously," she comments dryly. Despite her seemingly flippant attitude, she's not really in a hurry to get crushed to death either. As the others start trying to wail on the door at the top of the stairs so they can make a jump for it on the other side, she pulls out one of her pistols--the one that still has live bullets in it--and attempts to shoot the knob right off the same thing.
...
It might be more difficult than one would think. And if it is: why, when the rest of the building is in shambles, is this one door so tough?!
DG: Seraph Ragnell has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition. DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Trusty Shovel toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
As she climbs, Rosaline's steps are very deliberate without being slow. Every part of her seems to be on high alert as the surroundings creak around them... which is only the beginning.
"Hear my prayer," Rosaline incants, her voice echoing faintly. Who is she praying to? She doesn't even know. Probably no one in particular.
Perhaps alarmingly, strips of worn-out paper appear floating around everyone, orbiting each party member. Something is scribbled on each, though the messages aren't clear unless one really focuses as they pass by, and now really isn't the best time to. Their intended effect soon becomes clear, however, as those within find themselves imbued with greater strength and firey special effects. Maybe Dario has a better shot at the door now.
Or maybe not. That's why Rosaline is now blasting away at it with an odd-looking shotgun. Janus and his gang see a scope, which looks odd on a shotgun. The rest see an eye, which looks at them.
"CLEAR!" she calls out, firing the thing, causing shot to fly out and produce several tiny explosions. To her credit, she does give those close to the door a second to clear, because she doesn't presently want to blow them up.
DG: Rosaline Calice has used her Tool Sinner's Prayer toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Rosaline commands everyone to get moving, and Nimue follows before she fully realizes she's doing it. She gets about ten steps along behind Rosaline before looking down at her feet, taking a second, and going, "Ugh -- come on, really?" She keeps going just the same, mind, though there's a bit of a hitch in her step... and she ends up scooting a little closer to Ragnel again in the process.
... Theeeen the building they're in -- which Nimue has kind of not really noticed them entering, honestly -- starts to pull a Jenga. "Welp," she says, with characteristic unceremoniousness. "Thiiiiis is the kinda thing that kills us too, so..."
Nimue reaches into her satchel and pulls out a bottle of EXTREMELY stolen bourbon from November City, with the price tag still on and everything. She takes a long swig, then waits for Rosaline to finish shooting...
... before just launching herself with Maximum Wind directly into the door (if it's still there) or the next obstruction thereafter (which would be pretty unfortunate).
DG: Seraph Nimue has used her Tool Stolen Drinks toward her party's challenge, Controlled Demolition.
===============================<* Lost July *>================================ ===================<* CHALLENGE - Controlled Demolition *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute |Challenge Rating: 4 | --------------------------< Challenge Information: >-------------------------- Crossing Lost July means, at times, you have to go up inside a building. You find such a case here: a large, seemingly solid building, which has a stairway inside of it that spirals up four floors. A door at the top leads back out to the roof level of a neighboring building. As you begin climbing up the stairs, though, the building shakes -- and pieces begin collapsing, including the stairs behind you! The only way out of the tower is to break through -- and quickly, before the entire thing breaks into pieces around you. =Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck, Suffer=========================================
==========================<* Lost July - Round 4 *>=========================== =====================< Results - Controlled Demolition >====================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Janus Cascade 45 --(20)--> 65 Fail Dario's Flask 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rosaline Calice 35 --(15)--> 50 Pass Sinner's Prayer 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Ragnell 55 --(20)--> 75 Fail Force 0 Brute Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Neriah Parringer 30 --(15)--> 45 Pass Trusty Shovel 2 Brute Effects: Strengthen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seraph Nimue 45 --(20)--> 65 Fail Stolen Drinks 1 Brute Effects: Cleanse ----------------------------------< Party >----------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Ragnell 50 --(10)--> 60 Fail Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Madness|Overwhelm|Reckless(1)|Stupify(1)|Suffer(1) Effects: Cleanse|Strengthen(1) ==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Dario, properly liquored up, slams hard into the door, squawks "AUGH SHIT MY SHOULDER" and collapses in a heap. Janus pinches his nose. "Great sky above me," he mutters.
Ragnell can't quite get the shot to land. Rosaline and Neriah, though, successfully one, pry the door open, and two, blow away a wave of rock behind it. "Wow," Janus says, whistling. "Scoped shotgun...?" He turns and literally looks down the barrel like an ACTUAL IDIOT, whistling. "Ain't like no normal ARM I ever seen. Creepy. Good work."
The whole thing rumbles again. "OH, RIGHT," he yelps, as Nimue shoots past them all and rockets off into the infinite. "YEAH RUNNING GOOD PLAN," he adds, and runs after the totally invisible woman.
They will make the jump, barely.
DG: Seraph Nimue has drawn a new Challenge.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - Tactical Espionage Action *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Some Drifters had the bright idea, while raiding this place, to sneak in a Gear. The thought process was likely something about overwhelming firepower and a decision to not worry about reprisal, this far from civilization. As you round the corner, you see one such Gear there. It stands tall, looming over a half-collapsed building -- while a trio of Drifters works the inside. However, the Gear seems busy, because it is shining a spotlight built into its head into the building. You might be able to sneak past, without starting a fight. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Bad Luck=========================================
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Excavator's Lens toward her party's challenge, Tactical Espionage Action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Nimue makes the jump with her face, because this is the worst timeline. She skids across the ground, and when she stands up, her knees and palms are extremely skidmarked. Strangely, she doesn't seem that bothered, and indeed stands up with a, "Haha, cool," thrusting her palms out. "I can feel the exact direction of the wind across every cut! ... Waaaaaait, I could already do that with my soul. This isn't helpful at all!!!"
While spinning around with her hands thrust out, she ends up turned back around -- and sees a Gear heading for the building they just left. ... man, and she left Sundowner parked outside...
"... Ooookay, so, everyone crouch down and crawl away," Nimue says, deciding to take point on being the one setting the tone and issuing the orders this time, because the last two times have sat a little poorly with her. "If they're poking around like that, I bet they've already cleared out everything the way they came, soooo..."
The Gear takes a good, healthy look at the building that just fell apart. Hopefully it stays that exact amount of busy forever.
DG: Seraph Nimue has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Tactical Espionage Action.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Janus values checking out Rosaline's guns over self-preservation. She has a half a mind to actually just pull the trigger.
"Are you an actual idiot?" she just asks, instead, shoving him aside if he doesn't get out of the way quickly enough, so she can MAKE A RUN FOR IT and perform a death-defying jump.
She makes the jump with something approaching grace, because cats basically cheat at everything, and throws Nimue an irritated side-glance. Is she for real?
And then she sees... the Gear. Ah.
Nimue's instructions are fair enough, though Rosaline was already in process of doing something along those lines to begin with. The light cast by her hair dims and goes out, and a moment later she's found a shadow to slink into. She'll have to see if she can find more, though-- She's good at this, but daylight makes this a tricky proposal at best.
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Tactical Espionage Action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell's red eyes flick towards Janus when he yells about running being a good plan after Nimue bolts past him. But, since running IS a good plan, she merely files this away and hauls ass. She falls slightly short, but manages to catch the edge with her gloved hands and pull herself up. She's... somewhat better off than Nimue, who looks to have landed face-first.
"Nothin' you do is helpful," she cracks at her friend, turning around and seating herself on the edge, peering down at the collapsed remains of the building they'd just ascended. The sound and lights of an approaching Gear get her attention, though, and she looks up sharply as it walks up and peers at the freshly-fallen building.
"Prob'ly wonderin' what all the noise was," she murmurs, turning slowly (just in case) and following Nimue while remaining crouched down. As the group creeps out, hoping to slip past the Gear while it's distracted, Ragnell starts to hum low. It's no harmonica, but that would be a bad idea with this particular company... And it's a pleasant song regardless, which might help relax everyone's nerves.
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, Tactical Espionage Action.
=================================<* Lost July *>================================== ===================<* CHALLENGE - Tactical Espionage Action *>==================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ----------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------- Some Drifters had the bright idea, while raiding this place, to sneak in a Gear. The thought process was likely something about overwhelming firepower and a decision to not worry about reprisal, this far from civilization. As you round the corner, you see one such Gear there. It stands tall, looming over a half-collapsed building -- while a trio of Drifters works the inside. However, the Gear seems busy, because it is shining a spotlight built into its head into the building. You might be able to sneak past, without starting a fight. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Bad Luck=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
'Are you an actual idiot?' "Nah, I keep Dario around for that." Dario guffaws from where he landed on the next rooftop. "Got my certification 'n' everything!"
The jumps complete, the Cascade Gang have slammed into the ground. Dario is wheezing because he's a fat bastard; Janus is sitting but still a little rattled himself.
Romero is up on his feet and looking spry because that ninja thing isn't ENTIRELY for show. Relatedly he's the one who grabs the both of his colleagues and bodily drags them behind an obstruction. "Dangit, stay low you oafs!" he hisses. "Not even you're gonna have a good day you get shot by a Gear vulcan, Dario!"
Janus endures it because this is why he keeps Romero around, squatting down. He swings his ARM back to stow it in the loop of leather across his back and obliges to crawling low to avoid detection. If this is following Nimue's instruction, well, that's definitely just great minds thinking alike.
DG: Janus Cascade has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Tactical Espionage Action.
================================<* Lost July *>================================= ==================<* CHALLENGE - Tactical Espionage Action *>=================== |Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 2 | ---------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------- Some Drifters had the bright idea, while raiding this place, to sneak in a Gear. The thought process was likely something about overwhelming firepower and a decision to not worry about reprisal, this far from civilization. As you round the corner, you see one such Gear there. It stands tall, looming over a half-collapsed building -- while a trio of Drifters works the inside. However, the Gear seems busy, because it is shining a spotlight built into its head into the building. You might be able to sneak past, without starting a fight. =Dungeon Conditions: Injure, Bad Luck=========================================
===========================<* Lost July - Round 5 *>============================ ====================< Results - Tactical Espionage Action >===================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Cascade 65 --(5)--> 70 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 75 --(5)--> 80 Pass Tarnished Harmonica 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 45 --(5)--> 50 Pass Excavator's Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Nimue 65 --(10)--> 75 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC -----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------ Leader: Seraph Ragnell 60 --(15)--> 75 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(2)|Injure(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has passed this challenge! The party gained 15 exploration! If anyone needs to use party management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Ironically, Nimue herself is the one who has the most trouble advancing. She doesn't get spotted -- no one in the Gear has the resonance to see her, but she's definitely starting to feel the part where she launched herself extremely hard like an idiot.
Everyone shuffles along to Ragnell's rhythm -- except Rosaline, of course, who instead sticks to the shadows. Either way, getting past the Gear proves relatively easy... though Nimue's knees are killing her by the time they get around and past it, and end up heading deeper into the ruin.
"... Waaaah, this is super unfair," she mumbles, as she finally draws back up to her full height.
DG: Neriah Parringer has drawn a new Challenge.
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Underground Door *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
It has not been easy to locate the rumored Elw ruins. However, it seems that
you may have found the way. Inside a building, a stairway made of stone
instead of concrete or rusted metal leads down into a long, narrow chamber.
The air is cool here, and less dusty and smelling of decay. The hallway leds
on for a very long way, until you come to the end.
There, you find a massive stone door. It is unlike the ones seen above.
Lines are carved into it, and they glow softly with a faint purple light.
This door is the sort that needs a Duplicator key to open. However, a use of
sorcery -- or perhaps somehow finding a puzzle mounted on the door -- could
open it, too.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Neriah snuck past the Gear largely by finding a crack in a piece of scenery with her spylens, digging it out, and then sneaking through the ensuing tunnel.
Soon enough, though, a chunk of rubble by the pathway shifts, and Neriah pushes back her chameleon cloak, looking up at the others with a tilt of her head. "Hello," she says quietly.
Pushing on, she makes her way towards one of the more conspicuous-looking buildings ahead - a cool, less dusty-seeming building with a downward-running staircase. The dark-haired girl begins her descent, her heels clicking against the masonry as she moves down the old stone steps.
"These are old," she realizes aloud, voice very quiet. "You can see how the cutmarks and hard edges have worn down."
The narrow room beyond seems to go on forever. Neriah finally stops, blinking, looking up at the massive stone door waiting for them.
Purple light streams through lines in the door. It is, clearly, no ordinary door.
Excavator's lens in hand, Neriah squints into one of those lines, then another. She flips smaller lenses into place to try to get a deep look into those lines and locks. "This isn't... any kind of lock you'd normally find," she murmurs. "It's gonna need a Duplicator key... though...." The girl narrows her eyes.
"...There might be a mechanism...." Neriah slides her fingers along the door, feeling around for something. "Sometimes there's a secondary lock if you know what to look for."
DG: Neriah Parringer has used her Tool Excavator's Lens toward her party's challenge, The Underground Door.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
Striding confidently up to the massive stone door, Nimue crosses her arms. She folds one up briefly to tap her chin. She cants her head to one side, then the other. Her feet tap, almost involuntarily. She paces in front of the door once.
Then she flops directly onto her face again like she's Ric Flair. "Not gonna even try," she says, her voice taking on that 'squished' quality that voices take on when they're directed, you know, directly at the ground. "Hard pass. Someone else do it. Can't they just, like, have some obnoxious energy gate system or something?"
Doors are not a hunter unknown to their prey...
DG: Seraph Nimue has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Underground Door.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"Suck it up, buttercup," Ragnell drawls at Nimue, nonetheless patting her on the back as she complains. The group of them manage to make it past the Gear regardless, and Neriah finds a tunnel for them all to pass through. It's stone, and the air is cool... Ragnell looks around thoughtfully as the group presses forward, remaining oddly silent.
That is, until they reach the huge-ass stone door with strange and alien carvings.
Then Ragnell says eloquently, "Motherfucker."
Nimue takes a hard pass with a hard flop onto the ground. Neriah inspects it with her lens, trying to find a way to open it without having to use a Duplicator key. Ragnell once again brings out her harmonica. "Yeah, could be," she says of Neriah's assessment. "I'll try playin' a few tunes, see if this thing responds to any of 'em."
And then she slowly, skillfully begins to play the scales, then several different common chords. It might actually be impressive that she *can* play chords on a harmonica, of all things...
DG: Seraph Ragnell has used her Tool Tarnished Harmonica toward her party's challenge, The Underground Door.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Janus sneaks with the help of his RAD WHITE CHAPS. That are still white somehow. A man's look is very important.
Dario emerges from a barrel he found as the group assembles. He looks very happy with himself. Romero just sort of appears. The Cascade Gang are people of many talents...
The gang rally up near the door, each considering it in their way. "I think...." Romero mutters, running a hand over it. "Maybe if I..."
"The Elw did not have 'ninjurai samjutsus,' Romero," Dario mutters.
"Oh and YOU'RE the expert!!" Romero barks back.
While they throttle each other, Janus walks up with his pocket watch in hand, glancing down at it and then up at the door, hand gliding along silently. "Definitely Elw," he mutters. "Probably some kinda riddle around here somewhere, but where?"
He snaps the pocket watch closed and looks again.
DG: Janus Cascade has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Underground Door.
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Underground Door *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
It has not been easy to locate the rumored Elw ruins. However, it seems that
you may have found the way. Inside a building, a stairway made of stone
instead of concrete or rusted metal leads down into a long, narrow chamber.
The air is cool here, and less dusty and smelling of decay. The hallway leds
on for a very long way, until you come to the end.
There, you find a massive stone door. It is unlike the ones seen above.
Lines are carved into it, and they glow softly with a faint purple light.
This door is the sort that needs a Duplicator key to open. However, a use of
sorcery -- or perhaps somehow finding a puzzle mounted on the door -- could
open it, too.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
"Hi," Rosaline tells the decloaking Neriah as she also steps out of the shadows, faintly relieved the non-idiot-to-idiot ratio is being restored.
Rosaline is very, very tired of purple light, to tell the truth. Luckily it's (almost certainly) not the kind she's partially made of now.
Neriah explains the lock. Unfortunately, Rosaline didn't bring a Duplicator key either.
"Motherfucker," she quietly parrots Ragnell. She wishes she had brought her Sealing Rod. (Why? Find out in a later Digger run!) But since she came here in part to test her powers, that's an opportunity to do just that.
The red corpse strings extend from her hands again, feeling the door for any sort of opening to get into. And once they do, Rosaline just... jiggles them around, clearly not actually knowing how to pick a lock. But then, maybe the malevolent, decay-adjacent energies that power her strange ability will somehow make the door a bit more compliant to being forced open...
DG: Rosaline Calice has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Underground Door.
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
======================<* CHALLENGE - The Underground Door *>======================
|Type: Final |Dungeon Ability: Wits |Challenge Rating: 3 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
It has not been easy to locate the rumored Elw ruins. However, it seems that
you may have found the way. Inside a building, a stairway made of stone
instead of concrete or rusted metal leads down into a long, narrow chamber.
The air is cool here, and less dusty and smelling of decay. The hallway leds
on for a very long way, until you come to the end.
There, you find a massive stone door. It is unlike the ones seen above.
Lines are carved into it, and they glow softly with a faint purple light.
This door is the sort that needs a Duplicator key to open. However, a use of
sorcery -- or perhaps somehow finding a puzzle mounted on the door -- could
open it, too.
=Dungeon Conditions: Stupify, Reckless========================================
============================<* Lost July - Round 6 *>============================= ========================< Results - The Underground Door >======================== Player Exhaustion Pass/Fail ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Janus Cascade 70 --(10)--> 80 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosaline Calice 55 --(5)--> 60 Pass Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Ragnell 80 --(5)--> 85 Pass Tarnished Harmonica 2 Wits Effects: Stalwart ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neriah Parringer 50 --(5)--> 55 Pass Excavator's Lens 2 Wits Effects: Enlighten ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Seraph Nimue 75 --(10)--> 85 Fail Investigate 0 Wits Effects: BASIC ------------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------- Leader: Seraph Ragnell 75 --(35)--> 110 Pass Conditions: Bad Luck(1)|Injure(1)|Reckless(2)|Stupify(2) Effects: Enlighten(1) ================================< Dream Chasers >=================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success! DG: The party led by Seraph Ragnell has successfully explored Lost July!
=================================<* Lost July *>==================================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - The Elw Ruins *>==========================
|Type: Discovery |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1 |
----------------------------< Challenge Information: >----------------------------
The path is cleared, and you find that the doorway leads into another
hallway. This hallway, however, has a strange feature. Instead of being
darkened, sunlight spills in -- inexplicably, given the depth of the hallway
-- and lights up the stones here a brilliant golden color. The path leads
ahead, to stairs leading upward, and a double door. It swings open, and
reveals a strange sight: an open sky, seemingly underground. And yet, there
is a shimmer in the air.
Elw sorcery, which has transported you to a place of interlocking platforms
that float in the mountains. The air is cool here, but you can see that the
stone platforms are dotted with trees. Somehow, you have risen thousands of
feet into the air, for if you look down, you can see the ruins of Lost July
below. Even still, the stairway leading down will lead back under the ruined
city.
Welcome to the Pleasing Garden.
=Dungeon Conditions: Vault====================================================
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"I think this is the obnoxious energy gate system," Neriah says dryly, glancing over at Nimue.
Ragnell's tunes help in their own way; they bring a little smile to Neriah's face. "That's a really cool skill, Ragnell," she says quietly, glancing briefly over her shoulder to the Seraph. "I could never figure out how to play more than the stereotypical four notes...." She hums them. They'd evoke Bad to the Bone if that existed in Filgaia.
Janus's riddle hunt is joined in on soon enough, Neriah turning her deep-snooping lens to the task of inspecting the door.
Then Neriah stops and looks back at Rosaline in shock as the woman say a dirty word.
She buries the surprise and goes back to lens-snooping. Eventually it pays off: The red corpse strings, feeling along the door, manage to locate something. A switch. Nothing Janus has can get in there. Neriah, however, is a professional Excavator and lives for finding secrets. When she's not exterminating villages, anyway. She slips a small, slender tool into her hand and slides it into a nondescript crack in the door.
Something clicks. And the door goes slack on its hinges.
Neriah looks back at the others, bracing herself for whatever is to come. She lays her hand on the door and slowly pushes, and steps through.
Into a brilliantly sunlit corridor of gold stones, within an open sky.
The sudden light forces Neriah to shield her eyes with a gasp. "Granas's cornhole," she curses as she takes a couple of steps forward. She blinks rapidly as her eyes adjust... and soon finds herself looking down at the ruins below. And then up... towards a place of trees sprouting from those hovering stone platforms.
"Seriously, what even are Elw," Neriah says, holding her hands out at her sides. "Wow, though. Wow."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Nimue has posed.
"No! The obnoxious energy gate system is bigger, and dumber, and transparent... er. ier. Shut up." Nimue stubbornly lies on the floor for a while --
-- and then the door clicks and Nimue is suddenly vertical again. "Hey, great! I knew we could do it! I wisely participated the perfect amount: zero!" she declares, as the door opens, the light rushes forth, and...
"... Huh. You know, floating weird bullshit usually doesn't have... thhhhis kind of..." She looks around. "... Ahhhh, the clean air, though..." She seems equal parts elated and nervous -- it comes off as almost ominously giddy.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
"It helps that I'm fulla hot air," Ragnell jokes, winking at Neriah, before returning to playing scales and chords. She side-eyes Janus, who seems to be quite familiar with what is and isn't Elw, but doesn't remark. She does, however, smile at Rosaline's use of profanity. Ahh. She loves being a good influence.
Eventually the corpse strings find a switch, and Neriah manages to get it to click. Then the door slacks, and it opens smooth as silk with a single push. Ragnell puts her harmonica away, nudging Nimue with a boot. "C'mon, you lazy asshole," she says dryly. Then she heads with the others through the door to a brilliant otherside.
She blinks rapidly, raising one arm to shield her eyes. When she lowers it... Well. Even before she lowered it, she could sense the change in environment. The skies, high in the heavens, near the cloud layer where storms form... She could taste it before she could see it. She takes a deep breath of the clean air, then lets it out and looks around.
"Yeah, no kiddin'," she responds to Neriah, taking in the hovering stone platforms dotted with trees. She rubs her chin thoughtfully. "...You think we might be the first ones to find this place?"
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Janus whistles a little, appreciatively. "Wow," he says. "Thought for sure we were gonna have to knock over specific trees looking for buttons. Nice work, bu--"
He grimaces. "Nope," he says. "Not feelin' it."
And then: Paradise. His eyes widen in awe as he walks in, looking around - and like a complete maniac, steps right up to the edge to look over. "A flying paradise...."
His lips scythe into a grin. "Them Elw were sure somethin'."
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Rosaline glances back at Neriah, almost defiantly. So she said a cuss! Big deal!!
She smiles with satisfaction as her corpse strings already find a new, unexpected use. She's helping! Even Nimue's antics seem less irritating now that she's not, say, in mortal danger or, worse, trying to figure out an obnoxious train system.
But the real adventure is only starting here, isn't it? She swallows and steps through the door. The surroundings are beautiful, in their way, and...
Her pupils are already shrinking before she can shut her eyes, and its takes them some time to open them again. She has to blink a few times to get the spots out. "Motherf..." she starts, but doesn't finish, because she JUST used that one and doesn't want to wear it out.
She looks around, awed by heavenly surroundings. Tears bead at the corners of her eyes. Being here feels wrong. She's a creature of the shadows, now. Any ties she had to the Heavens are in her old bag, which Gwen probably has lying around somewhere far, FAR below this place.
"Granas," she whispers.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"You know what's sad? This is probably the most trees I've seen in years," Neriah quips, mostly to try and seem more sly than she is at a time when she doesn't really feel sly, or even unruffled by what she's seeing.
Stepping forward with care, Neriah shades her forehead with one hand and frowns. "We might be," she concedes, glancing back at Ragnell. "At least, the door was still sealed when we got there, and I don't see any other signs of people... not even footprints or movement in the distance."
The girl sets a hand at her hip and throws a look back towards Janus. "...Yeah. Yeah, they must be," she concedes. She can't really keep up the sly act in the face of something like this.
"...Maybe we ought to camp out and enjoy it for awhile," she says.
"I mean, unless there's some huge horror from the beyondness waiting in the middle to strip the flesh from our souls and devour us always, anyway. 'Cause that happens sometimes."